Steel Under Roos

Your 2009 National Steel Bridge Competitors

2009-04-24T12:11:00.037-05:00

University of Akron (The Zips with a nice fully tied truss, lots of members there.)

University of Alabama

Arkansas State University

University of California Berkeley (The Bears have been officially inserted as the favorites to win it all, I'm laying 2:1 odds. We are doing this thing in Vegas after all. I wonder if Imperial Palace will have NSSBC odds up for play?).

University of California Davis (With Chrome Ollie and the Cal Bears it will be tough for anyone to unseat Mid-Pac as the strongest steel bridge conference.)

California Poly State University - SLO (These guys and gal have got a nice website up as well.)

University of California - San Diego

University of Central Florida

Clemson – (It’s an old picture I know. Update that website Tigers!)

University of Colorado - Denver (Nice action shot.)

Drexel University (The Dragons go with a throwback design, a stacked beam straight very similar to something you might have seen in the early 2000's.)

Geneva College (The Golden Tornadoes will be Beaming it in Sin City.)

University of Hawaii - Manoa (They're in there somewhere, maybe or maybe not, it's 50:50)

University of Idaho

Illinois Institute of Technology

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Kansas State University (Simple design, but too many bolts???)

Lafayette College (The Lafayette signature round-tube bridge.)

Lakehead University

Lawrence Technological University

Louisiana State University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Check out the MIT Blog)

University of Michigan (The return of a former powerhouse to the National Competition.)

University of Missouri-Kansas City (Another Steel-Roo trip to nationals, this time with far less alcohol consumption. Not sure if that's good or bad?)

New Jersey Institute of Technology

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (Making their first ever trip to nationals!)

University of New Orleans (UNO will bring an elegant arch design. Might be the only curved structure in the field.)

North Dakota State University (Competing in the Featherweight Division. The Bison might be able to stow their bridge in the overhead.)

Old Dominion University

Seattle University (A simple truss design for the Redhawks, who continue to impress with their second Nationals appearance in their second year as a team.)

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

University of South Florida

Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville

SUNY Canton (This blogs second favorite school with a kangaroo for a mascot. Expect these Roos to be lightning fast as always.)

Texas A&M University

University of Texas - San Antonio

Texas Tech University

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Washington State University

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Youngstown State University

If you're team wasn't featured here and you would like to be, send a picture SteelRoos@gmail.com

K-State Construction

2009-04-22T16:59:00.004-05:00

Check out Kansas States Construction Run at the Mid-Continent Regionals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-hWQlhgSXk

These guys are our favorite steel bridge team, 100% student fabricated, dedicated, hard working, and the best sportsmen you'll ever find. The wildcats brought it hard at the Mid-Con Regionals and the Steel Roos were lucky to get out with a victory. Hope to see all 30 of you in Vegas, I'll buy you a free drink.

Here's what we know!

2009-04-21T19:01:00.027-05:00

All 18 of the 2009 Regional Steel Bridge Competitions have gone down. Nationals are in 28 days and this is what we know so far about who's going to be there:

Carolina's - University of North Carolina at Charlotte

1st - Clemson (That's 14 straight national appearances)
2nd - ?????

Deep South - Arkansas State University

1st -University of New Orleans (And it was nearly a clean sweep. just missing on stiffness)
2nd - Louisiana State University
3rd - University of Memphis

Great Lakes - University of Notre Dame

1st - University of Wisconsin - Madison
2nd - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
3rd - Illinois Institute of Technology

Metropolitan - Polytechnic University of NYU

1st - New Jersey Institute of Technology
2nd - Rowan University

Mid-Atlantic - University of Delaware

1st - Lafayette College
2nd - Drexel University

Mid-Continent - Southern Illinois University - Carbondale

1st - University of Missouri-Kansas City (Four-Peat, barely)
2nd - Kansas State University
3rd - Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville

Mid-Pacific - University of Nevada - Reno

1st - University of California Berkeley (Watch out for the defending champs, they had a clean sweep in one of the traditionally toughest regions, for a second straight year).
2nd - Univeristy of California Davis (As if there was any doubt!)

Mid-West - North Dakota State University

1st - Lakehead University (The Canadians from Thunder Bay eek out the powerhouse Bison in what appears to have been a great competition.)
2nd - North Dakota State University

New England - Wentworth Institute of Technology

1st - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Check out the MIT Blog)
2nd - ?????

North Central - Lawrence Technological University

1st -Lawrence Technological University (The hosts spoil the party)
2nd - University of Michigan

Ohio Valley - Western Kentucky University

1st - University of Akron (With a very strong performance, 6 of 7 Categories)
2nd - Youngstown State University (Check out their Photos and Video)
3rd - Geneva College

Pacific Northwest - Carroll College

1st - Washington State University
2nd - Seattle University
3rd - University of Idaho

Pacific Southwest - University of Hawaii - Manoa

1st - University of Hawaii - Manoa (Capitalizing on the distinct home field advantage)
2nd - University of California - San Diego
3rd - California Poly State University - SLO

Rocky Mountain - Brigham Young University

1st - University of Colorado - Denver
2nd - South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
3rd - New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (Making their first ever trip to nationals!)

Southeast - Vanderbilt University

1st - University of Central Florida
2nd - University of Alabama
3rd - University of South Florida

Texas-Mexico - Texas A&M University

1st - Texas A&M University
2nd - University of Texas - San Antonio
3rd - Texas Tech University

Upstate New York - SUNY at Buffalo

1st - SUNY Canton (As if there was any doubt, they've won 13 out of the last 15)
2nd - Ecole de Technologie Superieure of Montreal

Virginia's - Old Dominion University

1st - Virginia Tech University
2nd - Fairmont State University
3rd - Old Dominion University

This is based upon what I could piece together scouring the internet if I have something wrong or if anyone who can help fill in the rest of the results, please let me know SteelRoos@gmail.com. Congratulations to all the teams who competed and good luck to all the lucky teams heading to Vegas. Can't wait to see you all there.

P.S. - Stay tuned pictures to follow soon.
P.P.S. - Thanks to our favorite former Steel Bridge Blogger from Team Chrome Ollie for filling in some of the holes.

Wildcat Promo

2008-10-01T16:23:00.005-05:00

Steel Willie is in with a Steel Bridge Promotional Video for 2008. Get it here:

Stay focused Steel Roos, K-State would love to "steel" the Mid-Con from us.

Best Steel Bridge Video Ever!

2008-09-15T18:18:00.004-05:00

Or maybe I'm biased, judge for yourselves:

The Rules!!!

2008-08-16T17:47:00.002-05:00

The rules are now out.

2009 Rules

...and it looks like the barges are back with a twist and the beam is the only bridge type. Or is it???

Travel Day

2008-05-21T09:57:00.003-05:00

Drivers are already a day in and now only a few hours out. The rest of us are outie this evening via a Southwest Boeing 737. We'll still have a short drive from Orlando but hopefully we will be reunited with our road weary captains late this evening. Hope everyone travels safe, especially all those with a cross-country drive (don't trust those bridges to an airline or shipping company).

We are Smokin'

2008-05-09T06:54:00.003-05:00

The sequence changes have been paying off and we have been ripping off some huge times, faster than I ever thought we could be (maybe the church basement is giving us some good karma).

The last two weeks of effort have been great, its down to crunch time now and it's all about making consistent, mistake free runs, just two weeks until we roll for real.

We definitely roll on Saturdays! Except for this one, Congrats to the Grads.

Renovations

2008-04-28T20:23:00.010-05:00

It's Extreme Construction Sequence Makeover on the 5th Floor of the Parking Garage, we're rethinking everything. About half of the new ideas have been useful thus far but the net change has certainly been positive.

We've got some bridge changes to make to facilitate more rapid construction, hopefully we can continue to shave large chunks of time and fewer large chunks of skin from the captain's hand. We've got to get it running like a well oiled machine.

If anyone needs a reminder of what that looks like:

Actually, just see a Badger run from any year it's always quick and smooth.

Mid-Con Run Down

2008-04-20T08:28:00.010-05:00

The Top Three (and Bound for GatorTown):

1. UMKC

2. Kansas State

3. Missouri S & T

(Get more info here.)

It was a two team race for the top spot and then a few others battling for the final nationals birth. Kansas State was good, as usual, fast and stiff, and of course impeccable sportsmanship, as always.

K-State nicked us for lightness otherwise we swept the awards, darned weight penalty (didn't we check that dimension 10 or 12 times). Some extremely questionable loading practices left all of the deflection numbers a little bit in question. Positive deflections on center loads!? Apparently the gravity in Arkansas does not conform to the laws of physics? That said, it would appear that the poor set-up affected the torsionally stiff girders like ours and the Cats' the least.

All in all we had a good competition, some quality lessons learned and plenty left to work on before Nationals. Good luck to all the schools who have qualified and are still left to compete in their regions, can't wait to see you all in the O'Connell Center.

Best Steel Bridge Post Ever!

2008-04-14T21:09:00.002-05:00

No, not this one.

This one => http://chromeollie07.blogspot.com/2006/07/what-its-all-about.html

If you don't get it, I'm sorry. If you do, good luck to you.

We're off!

2008-04-14T20:33:00.004-05:00

Well almost, one more practice and a final check, double check, triple check of all the neccessities and we'll be on the road to Fayetteville.

The bridge has been transformed from its beautiful shade of brown to a slightly more pleasing shine. Hopefully our protective measures will keep it that way, at least for a few days.

Be methodical and clean build team, and don't forget to "BRING IT!".

Seems so slow now.

No Foolin Around

2008-04-01T07:13:00.003-05:00

April is here and so is the meat of the Steel Bridge Season. Our load test is done and things looked nice and solid, no funny business.

We've been tidying up all of the loose ends and making tweeks to improve constrution times. Still a short list of fabrication items to get in compliance with all the silly rules. The construction times are finally coming down and just in time with Regionals just two weeks away.

On the Home Front

2008-03-02T18:34:00.002-06:00

After weeks of laydown work, we're finally working up right. All that's left now is cross-member and bolt work. The clearances are tight, really tight, but a few more days and we'll be ready to start feeling out construction.

Steel Bridge Fun in Iowa

2008-03-02T17:11:00.003-06:00

A short drive up to Iowa City on Friday to take a look at some of the traditional powers in Steel Bridge Nation (most notably North Dakota State) and also experience one of the best college towns around. No word yet on the results but Iowa State and North Dakota State appeared to be battling for top honors. The Cyclones were showing off some nice fabrication and a very slick multi-colored-metallic-flake paint job (rivaling that of Hawaii in 2006). Light and stiff appeared to be the theme of the day.

If you ever go, it is a must to stay downtown.

Keep on Keepin On

2008-01-30T07:22:00.000-06:00

One week's hard work cutting, milling, and welding down, and all of the flat work on the deck is done. This week the girders go 3D and maybe we'll start in on the absurdity that is our piers. It's looking like we'll be in really good shape when the connections arrive.

Pictures!!!

2008-01-28T13:19:00.001-06:00

The steel has arrived! Roughly 900 feet of cold steel tubing warms my heart.

Craig explains to Patrick that there are 3 ways to do things: the right way, the wrong way, and the SteelRoo way (usually involves burning something).

Why not use 2 people to do one job?

Hard at work, you'll notice that there is light and no one's breath is showing. Yay new shop!

Connection testing. Notice the high tech dial gauge. Go Roos!

Fabrication Station

2008-01-28T12:55:00.001-06:00

The last week has been very busy, but very productive as well. We got fabrication started off on Saturday, and made some excellent progress. The new shop is working out great, and all of the new tools really improve our precision and our production. We got most of the steel cut for the girders and are in the process of welding together the girder sections. We've had a few learning experiences already, including chewing the teeth off of a band saw blade and builiding a jig that wouldn't release the piece after it was fabricated. But all in all, I couldn't be more pleased with our progress so far (unless we had the connections). We also had a successful test of our connection design on Friday. Now if we could just start practicing our run through...

Get Crackin'

2008-01-23T17:59:00.000-06:00

After a bit of a December lull (waiting on connections, material, and general slacking) we're all ready to start burning some steel. The new shop is completely set to go, lots of new tools and creature comforts (no more sub-freezing fabrication sessions), not to mention some much needed safety equipment. The material is all in, the connections are in process, the complex deck jig is built and tested, pretty much everything is set to go non-stop 24 hours a day until we're finished, kidding but only a little.

We'll be working hard, just 11 weeks until Regionals and as always we want at least a month of practice (so glad we're not a Texas school). Still on the lookout for an indoor practice facility so we can avoid any cold March mornings, the way this year is going they'd probably be in the snow.

Motivation

2007-11-12T18:31:00.000-06:00

For those of you new to Steel Bridge check out the AISC's 2007 Nationals Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yquKTMeoLO8

It's a good introduction to steel bridge, especially the fun and madness of Nationals.

As for our progress, the design/organization/fabrication meeting was great last weekend we're that much closer to having a working shop, shouldn't be long before we're fully stocked. It was also good to confirm that some of our previoiusly unattempted ideas are going to work as planned. We're getting very close to doing some real fabrication, if we could just get those darned connections nailed down.

Halloween Crunch Time

2007-10-31T19:17:00.000-05:00

Final Detailing is underway, we've still got a few outstanding issues that must be resolved and we have got to get those connections finalized. Our fundraising / sponsorship / partnership push is in full swing and off to a promising start. We should be getting some new equipment soon and be ready to start working through some ideas with the real stuff.

Keep Hammering away folks, follow up with your contacts, explore the creative solutions, gently prode the machinists. Only a few more weeks until the real fun starts. Let's turn paper to steel.

Best "Nerd Cosutmes" Ever! They even brought props!

AWS Meeting

2007-10-05T06:56:00.001-05:00

We had another great meeting last night with the American Welding Society. The AWS has become a tremendous friend to the steel bridge team, their wisdom, experience, and contacts within the industry have become an extremely valuable asset. We greatly appreciate the Kansas City AWS Chapter for welcoming us into their meeting again this year and hope that their are many more years ahead of us.

Connections

2007-09-11T12:00:00.000-05:00

The shop drawings are off to the folks at CNR, they'll be cutting a few at different sizes and tolerances for us on the CNC so that we can test and make final decisions on the connections. From there we will be able to finalize the design. Things are coming together quickly, hopefully we won't need to make to many iterations with the connections to get them right.

Don't forget the fundraising, as always it is critical to our success and its much easier to do now than in the winter when we're fab'ing and practicing.

Who knew Gators Could Move so Fast?

2007-09-05T12:11:00.000-05:00

Check out the 2007 Florida Gators breaking off a 3:30 Nationals construction run. The Gators are also showing off their hip dance moves and strange WWE pre-construciton routine (whatever it takes to get ready).

Hope we're there to see the Gators rolling in their own building, 261 days and counting.

Progress

2007-08-25T16:07:00.000-05:00

We're down to two design concepts. This week we'll be exploring the geometric variations, connection layouts, section sizes, girder cross-sections, etc. for each of the two concepts. Once we've developed a healthy amount of options we'll model each of them, compare the efficiencies, explore construction sequences, and estimate construction times. This weeks analysis should position us nicely for another narrowing of options.

We've added more tools to our arsenal as we have a very good lead on a CNC facility willing to help us fabricate connections, which could dramatically impact some of the design decision we make. We'll want to move quickly on this front, though, because we want plenty of time to test any out of the box ideas we might pursue.

"Bolt Consolidation" Its never to early to consider, but be careful of the new rules.

Brain Pains

2007-08-16T06:59:00.000-05:00

We pulled out the 2007 Bridge last night (it was only a little rusted, hopefully everyone has their tetanus shot up to date) to attempt implementing some new construction strategies on the new construction layout - builders, barges, assemblies, members, lots of possibilities exist.

The Good News first - we think we determined the most viable construction configuration (builders and barges) and we should be able to incorporate that into the connection design and layout.

The Bad News - We were slooooooow! Part of this can be attributed to inexperience with the layout and some new team members but it was obvious that achieving the times of last year was going to be difficult. It appears that being minimalistic over the river is going to be critical to construction times, but how does that jive with the importance of stiffness? Is it possible to make a beam or double truss stiff enough for it to be a viable option, given the decking envelope is it even possible to make a stiff simple span?

We'll take this information and incorporate it into our analysis, all together its shaping up to be a very challenging design year. We will be having a more formal design meeting next week, time and location to follow, so keep brainstorming and refining designs.

New Shop, Same As the Old?

2007-08-06T12:13:00.000-05:00

Well not really. For those who don't know the Team has relocated to the our new shop, closer to campus and into climate control (wow, there's a novel concept), still no bathrooms, but the engineering building is a very short walk away. We are completely moved out of the old dilapidated joint, it will be getting bull-dowsed soon (if it doesn't fall down first), and we are organizing things in the new shop.

This is the pre-move in state of the shop (the buggies will be disposed of shortly)

We will be looking to build a new steel rack and some new tables very soon, as well as deconstructing some stuff that's in the way. We will have to be a little more conscious of conserving space, as the new shop is a little smaller and we will be sharing it to some extent with some other student-orgs.

We will be having a meeting sometime this week to begin discussing roles for this year, establishing deadlines, organizing design groups, discussing fundraising, and maybe squeeze in some design, construction, and rule discussion. Contact myself or Hunter if you've got questions or need information.

Fire It Up

2007-07-27T18:17:00.000-05:00

Let's get this steel bridge season started. The designs are already circulating through the e-mail and our new fearless leader will be scheduling our first design meeting in the next few weeks. We want to knock out the design as quickly as possible w/o overlooking any details. There are lots of options and problems still out there to consider and solve, we will be looking for everyone's input in the next month or so.

We will be moving to our new shop next Saturday morning and claiming all the space we can in the new labs. Also, some new equipment is in the budget for the beginning of this year so everyone be thinking about what we could use to improve our fabrication.

Dream Big, Think Outside the Box, Be Creative!

Don't do this, it won't work to well.

Initial Thoughts

2007-07-24T06:53:00.000-05:00

Woooo, that's a tight envelope. Seems like it will be tough to do a beam this year.

Hmmm Barges.... My mind is teeming with construction possibilities.

Good luck getting any work done today.

2008 Rules

2007-07-24T06:31:00.000-05:00

Finally:

2008 Rules

Let the mayhem ensue.

MIT on the Web

2007-07-09T12:41:00.000-05:00

Check out MIT's new website. Lots of good pictures, videos (Love the construction practice hype, much better than our 4 person practices (team included!)) and a very nice recap of all the bridges at 2007 NSSBC. Great Job.

Link Here: http://web.mit.edu/srudolph/www/Events/events07.html#010

Also, apparently "Role up Number Thingies", a.k.a. measuring tapes, are standard issue deflection gauges up in New England.

2007 UMKC Video

2007-07-02T21:34:00.000-05:00

Find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD_WxG2zqk0

Regional Construction was a little slow and a lot sloppy, but it got the job done.

Boredom

2007-06-22T06:41:00.001-05:00

There isn't much going on in Steel Bridge Nation right now, so I thought I'd post about how there is nothing to post about. I bet your glad you read this.

End of the Year BBQ

2007-06-11T12:14:00.001-05:00

It was good to see everyone who could make it out to the first annual UMKC Steel Bridge BBQ, we look forward to making it a tradition to honor and thank all of the sponsors, alumni, faculty, and team for another great year. We would be remissed if we didn't take another oppurtunity to thank all of our wonderful sponsors, without you UMKC Steel Bridge wouldn't be possible.

2007 UMKC Steel Bridge

2007-06-11T06:31:00.000-05:00

The Final Stats for the 2007 Bridge.

Mid-Continent Regional Competition (Lawrence, KS)

Construction Speed - 1st (6.76 min. OUCH! those penalties hurt.)

Lightness - 5th (258 lbs, Might want to mix in a salad.)

Display - 2nd

Stiffness - 1st (.35", Very impressive if we don't say so ourselves.)

Economy - 1st

Efficiency - 2nd (By 3 lbs, Why did we waste our time with that clear coat?)

Overall - 1st (Can you say "Repeat"?)

Who doesn't love steel bridge competition in a closet, errrrrr... Knights of Columbus Building, the wood paneling, 70's Sconces, and 8' drop ceilings just added to the ambiance of Lawrence.

We performed admirably at Regionals, minus one "Nutsplosion", and showed off some unbelievable athleticism (those that were there know what we're talking about, but we were never concerned... Right, Captain?). Questionable judging was everywhere, a firm command of the rules and clarifications was certainly rewarded. Why can't we get the same group of judges every year?

There was certainly room for improvement on our part especially in the weight and penalty departments.

2007 NSSBC (Northridge, CA)

Construction Speed - 20th (5.72 min. Almost flawless, except for one drop by yours truly. Wait, ah crap didn't push that ridiculous centerline piece all the way down (what the hell is that thing doing anyways) 50 lbs. later all hopes of a top ten finish were dashed.)

Lightness - 33rd (316 lbs - 50 lbs (Weight Penalty) = 266 lbs, What? Our once overweight bridge is now morbidly obese. This after we spent a month shaving 14 lbs. in the shop, if all the scales in California read like the NSSBC's, it's no wonder Californians have self esteem issues).

Display - 27th (Embrace the rust it is your friend)

Stiffness - 19th (.82", A bad load case and a month more of construction combine to hurt the stiffness a bit).

Economy - 15th (Not bad considering the bridge type and the number of beams in front of us).

Efficiency - 29th

Well an unlucky day went from bad to worse to terrible. In a year when lightness was certainly rewarded (9 out of top 10 Overall were in the top ten in lightness), we were way to heavy compounded by the weight penalty and it all adds up to a disappointing finish to an otherwise quality year. Plenty of lessons were learned and we're looking forward to capitalizing next year on another year of knowledge.

2007 Nationals Recap

2007-06-07T20:28:00.000-05:00

Well, L.A. was plenty warm and a nice change of pace for us "Missour'a Farm Boys" (Yes, West Virginia we have cities here with running water and electricity, the whole bit. If you don't get the sarcasm I'm sorry you must be from one of the coasts). But the 25 hour drive was a little out of control.

The competition went something like this:

North Dakota State: One hundred and sixteen pounds, and it didn't look a pound over 80. Light, fast, and efficient, What is there to say besides they're the best, again?

UC Davis: More of the same from this rising powerhouse, dovetails all around and bolt consolidation like no one else. The Dove Tail Tools were out in full force with a flawless construction. They got a little fortunate on the load case (as were many with similar center focused trusses), but that's the way it goes. Not top three in any one category just an all around fantastic bridge.

University of Wisconsin Madison: Another very nice showing by the Badgers with a lighting fast construction, 4.02 minutes are you kidding me, and no one got dragged across the floor this year. 1st in Aesthetics and for good reason, although that thing probably got a little warm in the California sun.
Eerily Reminiscent of Last Year's #1.

Lakehead University: That was a nice beam, eh'. Fast and light the Canadians from Lakehead were the best of the beams. Some nice pin striping as well.

Other notables, UC-San Diego gets the What the heck is that Award? A very nice job thinking outside the box by those guys and gals. The Yellow Jackets also went away from tradition with some bent plate webbing complimented nicely by a flat black and gold paint job. The folks from SUNY - Canton get our compliments for another strong showing (from a fellow tiny engineering program) and a heck of a nice group of people.

Many thanks go out to the students and faculty at Northridge for bringing it all together.

Welcome

2007-06-04T12:55:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the UMKC Steel Bridge Blog Site. I think we'll give this a go for a while in the offseason, see if we can be productive, hopefully I can find time to keep it updated during the season.